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library of congress cataloging-in-publication data Poll, Ryan, 1975– Main street and empire : the fictional small town in the age of globalization / Ryan Poll. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8135-5289-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8135-5290-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8135-5294-1 (e-book) 1. American literature—History and criticism. 2. Cities and towns in literature. 3. City and town life in literature. 4. Cities and towns—United States. 5. Literature and globalization. I. Title. PS169.C57P65 2012 810.9'355—dc23 2011035598 Copyright © 2012 by Ryan Poll All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law. Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library. Manufactured in the United States of America A book in the American Literatures Initiative (ALI), a collaborative publishing project of NYU Press, Fordham University Press, Rutgers University Press, Temple University Press, and the University of Virginia Press. The Initiative is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. For more information, please visit www.americanliteratures.org. ...

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